Holly's Quest
by Howlingz
Summary: An account of Holly, a young girl from New Bark town in Johto. Will include mature content, humour both dry and usual and a lot of reading involved. Based on Pokemon Gold. Read with caution and an open mind.  I'm moving atm so sorry if intermittent upload
1. Partners

Ok, hi everyone. This is my first ever story that I have the intention of continuing. It's based on the game of Pokemon Gold, so in places you will see direct quotes, characters, etc. Due to artistic license and storytelling purposes, there will also be some details changed. Some minor, some major.

My style is to describe a lot, so all entries will be long. Imagine it's a story. Just a normal story. Forget your disagreements about the length, just enjoy it.

Also, I think this story would suit **16+ ages **as I may (will) have swearing, possibly some raunchy scenes later on. So if you suddenly come across them later on, don't you dare argue with me about not saying so beforehand. This is your warning.

Enjoy and comment. If you don't like something, suggest how I could improve it and not just state your opinion with no afterthoughts. Help make the world a more intelligent place. My thanks and everlasting gratitude.**  
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**Partners**

Holly woke up to the sun shining brightly through the window. It was still early, but she was too excited to sleep a moment longer. She got up quickly and dressed, roughly pulling on light blue jeans and a black, baggy short-sleeved top. She tied her medium length brown back into a ponytail and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Hurrying back into her room, she picked up a rucksack that had been hooked on the corner of her bed and tipped it all over the sheets. The contents spilled everywhere, with pencils, books, rubbers and empty vials clattering out onto the bed.

She ran to her drawers and pulled out a darker pair of jeans, a couple of T shirts, a pleated, medium length brown skirt and a handful of pants and socks. She shoved them all roughly into the bag and contemplated the collection of items left on the bed. Carefully choosing two thick books and one thinner one, a couple of pencils and some rubbers, she emptied the bag much more hastily than before. Carefully placing the books in size order at the bottom of the waterproof sack, she filled in the spaces around them with small items of the clothing she'd chosen, and placed the larger items more carefully on the top. Looking thoughtfully at the scattered items still on the bed, she put two of the glass vials on top of the clothes. There was plenty of space left in the bag, and she knew she was going to need it.

Today was the day. It was her 12th birthday, and the bookish, quiet studious girl was finally ready to make her way in the world. Her mother had held her back for two years as she watching all her friends from school gradually leave on their own journeys, leaving just her behind. It still stung, being left behind, but she had spent the time studying as much about pokemon as she could, knowing one day she would be surrounded by them on every side. But that wasn't on her mind this particular morning. Today was the day that she left the small town behind.

Glancing round her familiar room, with the feathery bed, large wooden studying desk, laden bookshelf and computer, she sighed deeply. She would miss the room she'd grown up in, along with the small town she'd always known. She also knew that every trainer had to go through this though, so she raised her head, swung the backpack onto her shoulders and stopped one last time in front of the map next to her door. She lightly traced all the roads through Jhoto, squiggling her finger in a random pattern through the large green patch that was Ilex forest. She had a long way to go if she was to find a Growlithe, the pokemon she had wanted since she was just a tiny baby. She had always loved the fact that it could scare away things that made her afraid, and as she got older, she'd only wanted one even more.

Hoisting the rucksack higher onto her shoulders, she walked slowly down the stairs. As soon as she stepped foot in the kitchen, her mother rushed over looking even more flustered than usual. "Oh Holly! You're up early today! Professor Elm wants you to drop by his lab before you leave, he has something he needs to talk to you about. Oh, that reminds me as well! Your pokegear came last night, just in time for you to… For you…" Holly looked up to see her mothers eyes glistening over.

"Mum, I'll be fine. I'm older than the other trainers now! Everything is going to be okay; I've spent so much time learning about pokemon, I've got the advantage!" She took the pokegear out of her mother's hands and put it into the special pouch of her rucksack and the mobile phone from the gear into her pocket. She pulled her mother into a tight hug, whispering "I'll ring you with my first badge before you know it. You're going to be so proud of me mum, I promise."

"Oh honey," her mother cooed, pulling away, "I'm already so proud of you. Your father would be too, if only he could see how much you've achieved already. Now, you must be off. Early start, brighter day, as they say. Just… Just take care of yourself, and if you ever get into any trouble, don't you ever be afraid to ring me or the Jhoto police. They'll send someone to help as soon as they know. Now be off with you!" With that, Holly was bustled out of the house without another word. The door closed firmly behind her, and she could hear the muffled wailings of her mother on the other side, who had finally given in to the grief.

Holly gazed at the small settlement she had lived in all her life. She was going to miss it on her long journey… She was also going to miss the morning if she didn't get a move on! She ran down the path to the main street and along to the large gray building next to the heavy tree line. As she clambered up the short flight of steps to the glass double doors, a flash of red momentarily caught her attention. "Probably just a pokemon'" she thought excitedly. She hoped she could find out which one if it was still there when she came out again. She stumbled through the doors, past towers of heavily-laden bookshelves and an apprentice who eyed her warily. She waved to the Professor at the far end of the gigantic room and ran to meet him.

"Holly! There you are!" he said over the quiet whirring of machinery. "Are you ready to begin your journey?" he asked with a wide smile. "Most definitely, Professor," she replied defiantly. "Am I getting a Growlithe? I would love a Growlithe as my first ever pokemon! It's my absolute favourite out of everything!" she begged him, spreading her arms wide and smiled broadly at him. Her adrenaline was burning through every vessel.

Chuckling softly to himself, the Professor showed her to a long wooden table where 3 red and white pokeballs were set far apart, each set on a flat metal plate with a small blank screen facing the edge of the table.

"How about I let you choose which pokemon you want? Choose carefully, you will be with this pokemon for a very long time. You must be able to bond with this pokemon to grow strong together." He ushered her towards the pokeballs, where Holly stared puzzled at the small but intricate metal contraptions. She pointed at the far right ball.

"I want THAT one." The Professor smiled softly and rubbed his stubbly chin.

"How do you know what pokemon is in there?"

"Oh…" said Holly. "I thought it was a luck game." Laughing openly this time, the Professor shook his head.

"No, Holly. I think I have something that can help you choose better." He turned around and rummaged through some drawers next to a large metal machine with what looked like a flat bed on it. "Ah! Here it is!" he exclaimed, and handed to her a red device with a screen and some buttons on it. Holly held the item in her hands and stared at it with a puzzled expression. "It's a pokedex!" She stared at him even more blankly. Sighing, he shooed her towards the far-right pokeball and pushed the white button at the centre, enlarging the pokeball without releasing the pokemon inside. The screen at the front flickered and showed a black and white image of a sleeping pokemon with four small feet and a large leaf covering most of it's head. Holly squealed in delight.

"Oh Professor, I want this one!" and pointed at the ball once more. The man manoeuvred the pokedex towards the screen and pressed one of the buttons. The small red device emitted a high-pitched squeal which made Holly jump. The screen showed a picture of the pokemon awake! She could see its pale green colourings, and an info box came up afterwards that said:

_Chikorita, the grass pokemon._

_A sweet aroma gently wafts from the leaf on its head. It is docile and loves to soaks up the sun's rays._

"Oh, Professor, I don't want a grass pokemon. How will I ever catch a strong pokemon like Growlithe?" She looked up at the scientist dejectedly.

"Holly, you have to choose which pokemon you think will suit you. Your partner is very important if you're going to be a pokemon trainer! The bond between a pokemon and their master is essential to the growth of both trainer and the pokemon. A pokemon cannot be strong if their trainer is weak, and can only grow stronger with a bond formed from trusting and caring for each other. You're going to have to rely on your pokemon a lot, so choose wisely which one you aim to begin your journey with. Only with kindness will you form the bond to grow to be strong." He paused, seeing the girl lost deep in thought. "Come and find me when you've made your choice." He walked away from the confused girl.

Holly stared at the sleeping pokemon. Aesthetically, she liked the pokemon, but she knew the pokemon would grow and evolve into another form. She didn't know if she would like the other forms as much as this one. And though grass-types were brilliant in battle against water, ground and rock-types, they were terrible against other grass, poison, flying and bug pokemon and most importantly it was terrible against fire but was affected cruelly hard by it. She could never get Growlithe with this pokemon. She had to choose one of the others.

She turned to the next, pressing the middle button of the pokeball. The screen in front sputtered and flickered a little, but eventually showed a tiny curled reptile. It looked scaly and cold and a bit slimy. She didn't like the look of it, and this was only its baby form! She pointed the pokedex at the screen and another little mewl came from the device. The picture showed the reptile awake, and it looked even slimier than before. The info box came up with:

_Totodile, the water pokemon._

_It's well developed jaws are powerful and capable of crushing anything. Even its trainer must be careful._

A water pokemon would be amazing battling against fire, ground and rock pokemon, but awful against grass pokemon. She knew that she could easily overpower a Growlithe with this pokemon, but then she remembered what the professor had said about bonding with pokemon. Could she really love it if she had to be afraid of it all the time? Could she really bond with the pokemon of her dreams if it never forgave her for hurting it so badly just to capture it? She felt sad about this and decided to look at the last pokemon.

Standing in front of the final pokeball, she pressed it and watched the static clear on the little screen. The last baby pokemon had a long thin snout and it's back looked fuzzy. She raised the pokedex and the chirrup of the final pokemon sounded from the tiny imbedded speakers. A picture appeared that showed the creamy underside and dark blue-green of it's back, and the fuzziness that she had seen was shown to be flames licking at its back. The info box the came up afterwards said:

_Cyndaquil, the fire pokemon._

_It is timid and always curls itself up in a ball. If it attacks, it flares up it's back for protection._

She knew fire-types were awful against water and rock pokemon, but they were really good against grass and bug pokemon. She went and sat on the floor looking at the three little screens. She didn't want to miss her chance at catching Growlithe, but she didn't want it to hate her for hurting it badly while overpowering it. She knew she had to choose the one that best suited her personality as well, but she also knew people changed so much when they grew up. Sighing, she realised there was only one option.

She stood up and took one last look at all three tiny sleeping pokemon. Touching the top of one of the balls, she whispered to the creature inside 'I'm so sorry… But I have to catch Growlithe. I have to live my dream. Someday, someone will love you as much as I will love all my pokemon. I'm sorry I can't be that trainer." She removed her hand and walked towards the scientist busy working away at a desk. She coughed loudly behind him.

He turned around in his chair, and by her expression he could tell that she had chosen her pokemon. He smiled and nodded."So Holly", he asked. "Which pokemon did you choose?" He knew that deep down, a trainer will always choose a pokemon that suits their personality, even if it wasn't obvious at first. A friend had told him once of a woman who was stubborn, could never be verbally beaten down and never gave up. She chose a Rattata to start her journey. Eventually, she ended up shunning everyone and being a lonely old woman, surrounded by ghost pokemon. Her personality change had meant that her pokemon changed. It was the natural order of things. He was also anxious to see that Holly's choice said about her own personality.

"I choose you," she whispered, "Cyndaquil."


	2. One step closer

One step closer

"I think that's a wonderful choice," Elm said. He stood up and walked over to the table with the pokeballs on. He lifted the far left one out carefully and handed it to Holly, then motioned her over to the large flat metal machine she'd seen earlier. "If your pokemon get hurt, you can heal them on one of these machines. They're in every Pokemon centre as well, so you can get your pokemon healed there. You'd better be going; you've got a long way to go yet. Good luck with your journey Holly, it was great a pleasure meeting you. My phone number is in your mobile if you need me for anything." He held out a hand and Holly shook it.

"Ok, bye Professor! Thanks for the pokemon, I'll take good care of it, I promise." She walked back towards the door past the rows of bookshelves, feeling the single pokeball clipped onto her belt. It felt smooth and cold. She wondered whether her pokemon was male or female and couldn't wait to test it in battle.

"Holly!" Someone was calling to her. She turned around and saw the young apprentice that had eyed her earlier waving and walking towards her. "Hi, I'm Danny, I work for the Professor? Anyway, I want you to have this. I know you're just starting your journey with your pokemon and I… erm." He looked nervous. She wondered why. "I just want you to look after your pokemon!" He added hurriedly. "I'd better go, it's always busy here. Bye Holly, it was nice to talk to you!" He walked off quickly. Holly looked at the vial he had given her, recognising it as a health drink that trainers gave their pokemon when they were hurt. He was already out of sight so she continued out the door and down the steps.

As she walked down, she noticed the bright red that had distracted her earlier. It wasn't a pokemon, she noticed, but a thin crimson-haired boy skulking around the tree line. Feeling confident, she turned towards him. "Hey! What are you doing out here?" she demanded. He looked sullen and pale. "What are you staring at, huh?" He turned as she reached him. "You don't know me. Just leave me alone!" He pushed her hard and she fell down, scuffing her elbows. He looked down at her shocked and then ran into the trees. His red hair soon disappeared from sight as the thick trunks and leaves swallowed him from view. She hoped he was ok in there and didn't get lost, even though he was nasty to her.

She picked herself off the floor and dusted her jeans of the yellow powdery surface from the path. She decided to ignore the strange boy. He looked troubled enough without her chasing him. She continued down the path that led out of town. Stepping over the threshold of the town, she felt another surge of confidence run through her. She had her very own first pokemon! Before anything though, she thought she should introduce herself to it.

Pulling the ball easily off her belt, she enlarged it and then released the pokemon. In a flash of red light, it appeared on the ground before her. It had the same colourings and markings as the picture in the pokedex, but it was larger than she had thought; it's lifted head came up to her knees! It turned around and she realised she could barely see it's eyes, as they looked very tightly closed. It could definitely see though, because it turned around and squealed in her direction. It ran towards her and Holly got a little worried. Did the pokemon like her? Would it burn her?

In the end, it just stood up on its hind legs and hugged her thighs. Holly smiled as she looked at the little creature. It looked like it was smiling too as it rubbed its cheek on her. Giggling, Holly picked it up; it was much lighter than she had thought it would be. The pokemon chirruped like the pokedex did before, showing that it was the call the pokemon made. "Hello Cyndaquil. I'm Holly, your new trainer." The pokemon just squeaked and chirruped even more. She guessed that meant the small fiery baby liked her. Looking to her left, Holly saw a bunch of purple berries and picked one off. "Do you want one Cyndaquil?" It chirped and wiggled its short stubby front legs towards the berry. Holly laughed and gave it the berry, guessing it was a little hungry. "Cyndaquil, I'm sorry I have to ask this but I can't tell. Are you a female?" The pokemon looked at her and stopped eating the berry. It looked a little offended. "I'm so sorry, but I can't tell!" The little pokemon nodded slowly then squeaked as Holly crushed it into a hug. "I am so happy to hear that Cyndaquil! I always wanted my first pokemon to be a female." The little pokemon blushed and continued eating the berry. It had a very faint smile.

"So, I have something else to ask you, Cyndaquil," Holly was getting used to saying the name. It sounded very pretty and feminine to her. She was getting more and more excited that she'd chosen this pokemon. "Will you help me get a Growlithe? I've always wanted one. It's a fire pokemon too, so you'll be great friends hopefully!" She looked at the little pokemon in her arms, it's front paws and mouth covered in berry juice. It was nodding again. She smiled kindly at it and let it down so it could wipe itself on the long grass that was in front of them.

The little pokemon walked a short way into the grass and Holly followed her, so she didn't lose her new companion. She heard an unfamiliar chirruping and a flash of brown suddenly slammed into Cyndaquil! Holly ran over to see if she was ok. "Are you alright Cyndaquil? What was that anyway...?" She turned around to see a wild pokemon staring at them angrily. It was brown with a long striped tail. From her belt, the pokedex chirped identically to the one she'd heard earlier. She unclipped it to see her first picture of a wild pokemon.

A wild pokemon that was about to attack.


	3. Failed Negotiations

Ok, I was told that I spelled Johto wrong for the first Chapter, so yeah... Sorry guys.

Failed negotiations

Holly looked at the wild pokemon that had just attacked her Cyndaquil. It was hunkered low on its four short, stubby legs, the ringed tail flicked over it's back and quivering visibly.

_Sentret, the normal-type pokemon._

_A very cautious pokemon, it raises itself up using its tail to get a better view of its surroundings._

A cautious pokemon… Why was a cautious pokemon attacking them? She pulled the growling Cyndaquil by her haunches away from the wild Sentret, being careful not to touch the suddenly white-hot flames that had leapt from its back and tail. She knelt on the damp grass, feeling the water seeping slowly through her jeans and making her knees cold and wet.

She knew that wild pokemon sometimes attacked trainers that invaded their territory, but she had also read that trainers could soothe angry pokemon just by being kind to them. She decided to try it. She held out her hand towards the bristling creature.

"Sentret… you're a Sentret aren't you?" she said calmly and slowly. She knew wild pokemon knew certain words by battling with trainers and by them being passed down through generations, but pokemon had to spend lots of time with people talking to them to understand properly what was being said. To untamed pokemon though, tone of voice was more important than the words being said.

The Sentret bristled at the name, showing recognition but didn't lower its tail. She wondered why the pokemon seemed so angry. She noticed its legs tensing but decided to try one more time.

"We won't hurt you if don't want to battle, but-" at the last word, the pokemon ran forwards toward her! She was barged out of the way as Cyndaquil pushed her to the side and stood in front to block the attack. Holly cowered behind, then looked up to see her pokemon with a raging inferno on it's back. The heat made her eyes sting.

"Cyndaquil, use smokescreen!" she shouted.

Before the Sentret could attack again, Cyndaquil inhaled deeply then spat out a large ball of pitch-black smoke that enveloped the other pokemon. Holly heard it choking on the thick, ashy air.

"Quickly, tackle it before it can attack again!" She shouted to her Cyndaquil, which leapt into the smog. She heard a hard impact and both pokemon were pushed out of the cloud. The smoke slowly started to disperse.

"Tackle, Cyndaquil!" she shouted to the fire baby again, who leapt after the other pokemon. The Sentret retreated quickly back into the smoke, making Cyndaquil miss it completely.

Holly heard a _crunch_ as the small brown pokemon crashed hard into Cyndaquil, sending her spinning into the grass which became singed from the flames on her back. She staggered onto her feet only to be hit hard on her left side from another tackle. She rose to her feet giddily, swaying from the impact.

"Lure it towards the smoke then tackle through it while holding your breath!" Holly shouted desperately towards her pokemon. She could see how weak her new partner was getting and knew she couldn't last much longer.

Cyndaquil nodded quickly then turned tail and ran straight back towards the quickly dispersing ball of smoke just as the Sentret leapt into another attack. It rolled over once then dug its tiny claws into the soft floor to steady itself, catching sight of Cyndaquil disappearing into the smoke. It edged warily forwards, but was sent flying as a full-frontal tackle hit it head on.

"Good job Cyndaquil! Now tackle it before it can get up again!" Holly screamed. Her pokemon ran towards the Sentret who was just clambering to its feet then slammed it hard with her side. The impact sent the pokemon flying once more, spinning once, twice, three times in the air before landing heavily on the floor. It slowly rolled over onto it's front. Holly stared horrified at it. She knew her pokemon was getting weaker by the minute.

It raised its front paws and pushed its body slowly off the floor, but collapsed again. It's eyes fluttered, then closed. The pokemon had been completely knocked out.

Holly stared dumbstruck at the still body open-mouthed. She was expecting it to get up again and finish off her pokemon then turn on her. In all her studies, she had never known a wild pokemon to be so aggressive while unprovoked.

A quiet mewling came to her attention. She looked down to see her Cyndaquil limping slowly towards her. She ran and knelt in front of the battered pokemon. There were nasty purple bruises appearing all over it's sides and blood coming from the corner of her mouth. Her front paw was also bloody and looked painful.

"Oh Cyndaquil… I'm so sorry!" she whispered to the pokemon. "Thank you so much for protecting me… I don't know what I would've done without you here…" She hugged the creature, avoiding its painful front paw. "You need to rest. I'll heal you as soon as I can." She felt the pokemon growing heavier as it lost more strength, so she unclipped the pokeball and returned her partner in a flash of red light.

The closest healing centre was just behind her at the laboratory. She had to heal her pokemon; it was too weak to battle and on the verge of fainting. She felt tears in her eyes as she remembered how she had been roughly pushed out of the way by her selfless pokemon, whose only thought had been to protect her.

She had only just left the village and she already had to return to heal her pokemon. Holly felt so ashamed. With a failure like this, how could she ever capture a truly powerful pokemon? She clipped the ball back onto her belt and ran back into New Bark.

How would she ever explain this to the Professor?


	4. What goes around comes around

What goes around comes around.

Holly ran up the grey stone steps to the laboratory. She was crying slightly from the shame of having to return so quickly. Opening the big double doors, she slipped inside and hoped she wouldn't run into the apprentice that gave her the potion earlier.

She reached the end of the massive room and saw the professor working away at some official-looking papers on a large wooden desk.

"Professor," she said, her voice slightly cracking. "Can you heal my pokemon? We got into a fight." He turned around and saw her trembling face, then decided not to ask questions. He knew starting a journey was tough. Everyone fell at some point, sooner or later. He stood up and motioned her over to the large metal machine she had seen earlier. She had completely forgotten that she could heal her pokemon there.

She unclipped the ball from her belt quickly and held it out to the professor, but he shook his head.

"I'm going to show you how to use it so you can come back as many times as you like," he said. "Just put the ball on the flat surface, push the biggest button and wait while you watch the screen." She hesitated for a moment, then placed the ball on the large soft surface. It was covered in a thin layer of white foam, she noticed up close. The ball rolled slightly, then she turned to the control panel to the right. There were lots of buttons and a large screen there. She pushed the largest one (which was as big as her hand) and looked at the screen. The professor watched her silently.

With a quiet whirring, a thin pole slid up from each corner of the bed then bent in the middle towards the ball. A red light identical to the one that pokemon appeared in from their balls appeared in a thin line, then all four centred on the ball. A sphere of the red light expanded to encompass the ball then disappeared. On the screen, Holly had watched reams of data she didn't understand change during the process, but there had been a long rectangular bar with a small amount of red at one end while the rest was transparent. She had watched this bar slowly fill from red to orange to yellow and finally to green. She realised this was the pokemon's health.

Turning to the professor worriedly she said, "is Cyndaquil going to be ok now?" He smiled, picked the ball off the table and passed it to her.

"She's fine now. This was your first battle, I'm guessing?" Holly nodded dejectedly. "Did Cyndaquil win?" Holly nodded again and the professor smiled even more. "Then you have nothing to worry about. Most trainers don't win their first battle with a wild pokemon. You should be proud of what you and your pokemon achieved together." He noticed Holly looked a little happier. Or at least, not as sad. He knew she'd be fine, even if she did have a few bruises on her arms.

"Now be off with you. There's still a long way to go yet. And remember to say thanks you to your pokemon!" Holly smiled and nodded again, then waved to the professor and started walking back down the rows of bookshelves to the door at the far end. She was just glad her pokemon was ok again.

Exiting New Bark for the second time in an hour, she released her Cyndaquil before they reached the grass. She knelt down and looked over her pokemon worriedly. All the bruising that had appeared was gone, and the blood has disappeared too. She smiled widely at her pokemon.

"Thank you Cyndaquil. You were amazing back there. I'm sorry I'm not the best trainer, but I promise I will get better. I'll try my best never to let you get in that state ever again." The pokemon squealed loudly then launched itself at her, gripping her with its stubby arms in a tight hug. Holly gasped at the pressure.

"Stop it!" The pokemon pulled away worriedly and Holly breathed deeply while laughing. "You've got a lot stronger, Cyndaquil! I didn't know you had it in you!" Her ribs hurt slightly, but she was too happy at her pokemon's progress to care. She stood up again and scratched the short fur on top of the smiling Cyndaquils head, then started to walk. The pokemon followed happily, bouncing along behind her. She was a bit bigger as well, Holly noticed happily. Not by much, but noticeably.

The sun was approaching its peak in the blue sky. The rare clouds were small and white but unimaginably fluffy. A gentle breeze was blowing through the trees, which were full of leaves. Holly loved spring. It was never too hot or cold and it was the time when everything started to come back to life. She kept to the path between the long hay-coloured grasses, hoping that no more pokemon attacked them. Even though Cyndaquil had gotten stronger, she still didn't want to see her get hurt badly again. At least, not so near to New Bark anyway.

Further ahead she saw a large metal sign sticking out of the ground. When she reached it she discovered that the next town was called Cherrygrove City. She hoped they had pokeballs on sale so she could catch more pokemon. A fire type was good for now, but she knew she had to expand her team. There was a sudden quiet rustling that got louder, and both she and her pokemon turned, Cyndaquils back flaring up as they expected another attack.

A tall guy with short black hair stumbled out from the grass. His face was red and there were cuts on his face. He saw her and stopped.

"Have you got any potions or anything?" He asked hurriedly. "My pokemon is exhausted and I don't know where the nearest Pokemon Center is…" A Pidgey followed him out of the grass. Its feathers were missing in places and one of it's wings looked badly damaged. It was covered in bite marks. Shivering, it half-collapsed on the ground next to the boy.

"Why haven't you returned it to a pokeball?" Holly asked incredulously. The boy looked embarrassed. A quiet, familiar beep came from her belt but she ignored it.

"I saw a pokemon I wanted and tried to catch it with my Pidgey, but it was too fast! It badly hurt my pokemon then it stole Pidgeys ball and the empty ones on my belt… now I don't know what to do. Please, I need your help!" The Pidgey on the floor squawked miserably. Holly felt bad for the small pokemon, and remembered the potion the apprentice scientist had given her. If her Cyndaquil got hurt she wouldn't be able to heal it, but she had also never seen how they worked. She decided this was as good a time as any to find out.

"Ok, but I've only got one," she said slowly. Opening her backpack she took out the vial of purple-y liquid. It fizzed slightly with the movement. She tossed to the boy who caught it then knelt quickly on the floor in front of his pokemon. She could see him whispering to it while he unstoppered the top. The Pidgey opened its beak and he slowly dripped it down, making sure it didn't choke.

With a little help, the pokemon drank all of the liquid in the vial. The boy looked relieved. Holly couldn't see any difference in the tiny bird until a faint purple light enveloped the pokemon. The feathers all slid back into place and it's eyes started focusing on objects around it. Holly was astounded. She never knew potions had this effect on pokemon! The Pidgey chirruped loudly and jumped up. The boy grinned widely at it and stood as well. The pokemon flew to his shoulder and then onto Holly's. It rubbed her cheek and cooed quietly into her ear then flew back to the boy. He was laughing a bit at Holly's bemused expression.

"He said 'thanks'. And I think your pokemon is a little jealous… Sorry about that." Holly looked down at Cyndaquil. The fire was a deep red and it had curled up into a ball. She giggled quietly to herself and patted the moody creature haunch.

"Wait a minute… Do you know what your pokemon is saying?" she asked him.

"Of course. I grew up with my mums Spearow, so I kinda know what bird pokemon are saying. They all speak pretty similar." This raised many questions in Holly mind. Did all similar types of pokemon speak similarly? Could all pokemon actually speak? And most importantly, how could she learn how to talk to pokemon? She thought that the guy was anxious to leave though, so she just nodded politely. She vowed to find the answers to her questions in the end. Cyndaquil stopped sulking and stood up, the flames near invisible again.

"There should be a Pokemon Center in the next town, and there's one in New Bark's lab, if you need to heal your pokemon again," she said. "I'm heading to Cherrygrove now. Where are you off to?" The boy mused for a few seconds, then said he was going to New Bark, since it was closer.

They shook hands and just as Holly and her Cyndaquil were about to leave, the boy shouted back to them.

"By the way!" She turned around quickly. "Pokemon hide in the tall grass. Who knows when they'll pop out… Be careful out there and stick to the path if you don't want to battle!" He waved again and walked on, his healed Pidgey flying from tree to tree just ahead of him. Holly smiled. She was glad that the boy hadn't wanted to battle her just yet. She wanted to train a little before battling anyone.

"Come on Cyndaquil," she said to the pokemon. "We'd best be going if we want to get there by nightfall." The fire-mouse nodded up to her and they both carried on walking. Who knew what pokemon came out at night…


End file.
